Progressive Pilgrimage and Retreats for Ministry Leaders
In the demanding field of ministry, leaders often find themselves giving continuously, which can lead to burnout if not managed properly. Taking intentional time away through retreats and pilgrimages is essential for rejuvenating the spirit and maintaining a healthy ministry.
Benefits of Time Away
Spiritual Renewal:
Stepping away from daily responsibilities allows ministers to reconnect with God in a deeper, more focused way. This time can be spent in prayer, meditation, and personal reflection, fostering a renewed sense of purpose and calling.
Emotional and Physical Rest:
Ministry can be emotionally and physically taxing. Retreats provide a necessary break, offering rest and recuperation that recharges a leader's energy and resilience.
Intellectual and Personal Growth:
Engaging in new learning experiences, whether through structured study or self-directed exploration, enriches a minister's intellectual life and enhances their ministry skills.
Ideas for Retreats
Silent Retreats:
Silent retreats, such as those offered at the Abbey of the Genesee, provide a peaceful environment for deep contemplation and spiritual renewal. The practice of silence helps ministers to listen more attentively to God's voice.
Nature Retreats:
Locations like Crieff Hills Retreat Centre offer a chance to reconnect with nature. The beauty of creation can be profoundly healing, providing a backdrop for rest and reflection.
Pilgrimages:
Progressive Pilgrimage offers global travel opportunities that stimulate the intellect, enrich the spirit, and build relationships among people of different religions and cultures. Pilgrimages like The Camino or trips to Iona Abbey allow ministers to walk in the footsteps of saints, experiencing a physical journey that mirrors their spiritual one.
Time apart for retreats and pilgrimages is not a luxury but a necessity for those in ministry.
It provides a vital opportunity for renewal, ensuring that ministry leaders return to their congregations refreshed and inspired. Embracing these practices can lead to more effective and joyful ministry, ultimately enriching the spiritual life of the entire church community.
About Progressive Pilgrimage
Progressive Pilgrimage provides global travel opportunities that stimulate the intellect, enrich the spirit, and build relationships among people of different religions and cultures. Our vision is to inspire Christians to become more engaged citizens, more faithful disciples, and more thoughtful neighbors, shaping God’s peaceable kingdom on earth today.
A pilgrimage is, quite simply, a trip that is spiritually motivated. Pilgrims travel to sacred sites to follow in the footsteps of their spiritual fore-bearers, to encounter the divine, and to deepen their personal faith. Pilgrims stop to pray, worship, and reflect along the way. Our pilgrimages are Christian in nature with a mind toward the Protestant tradition, though all are welcome.
Rather than promoting any one political perspective, our tours value learning and encourage critical thinking about the religious and political history of a region. We believe it is important for travelers to encounter people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Pilgrims will not only see the ancient sites but also meet the living stones, the people of the land, especially those who are working to building a better world.
The Abbey of the Genesee, Pifford, New York
In 1949, Porter R. Chandler donated 570 acres, known as the old Harris Farm, to Dom James Fox of the Abbey of Gethsemani to establish a monastery in the Genesee Valley. Initially named Christ the King, it was later called Our Lady of the Genesee. The monastery was founded on Easter Sunday, 1951, with a small group of monks. Local volunteers helped remodel the farm buildings, and the first Mass was celebrated in the new church on October 15, 1952. The monastery's famous Monks' Bread began production around this time, providing a crucial source of income.
The founding superior, Father Gerard McGinley, passed away in 1955 and was succeeded by Father Walter Helmstetter. In 1964, Father Jerome Burke took over, leading the community through the changes brought by Vatican II. During this time, the monastery faced significant transitions, including a reduction in membership and the phasing out of distinctions between lay brothers and choir monks. In 1971, Father John Eudes Bamberger was elected abbot, and under his leadership, a new church was built in 1974. He was reelected in 1977 and helped establish foundations in Brazil and Nigeria.
In 2001, Rev. John Denburger was elected abbot, and during his tenure, he initiated a Master Plan for the monastery and modernized operations, including launching an online store, Monksbread.com. The current abbot, Rev. Gerard D'Souza, elected in 2012, has overseen extensive renovations and improvements in communication, liturgy, and the formation program, addressing the needs of a smaller, aging community while seeing a rise in vocational inquiries.
The Abbey of the Genesee welcomes individuals of all faiths to its retreat houses for spiritual rest and renewal. Reservations are recommended several weeks in advance due to limited space. Retreatants have exclusive access to their retreat house, with stays available from Monday to Friday or Friday to Sunday. Longer stays can be arranged for religious retreats. Meals are not provided, but each house has a fully-equipped kitchen.
Crieff Hills Retreat Centre, Ontario, Canada
Colonel John Bain Maclean, founder of Maclean's magazine and The Financial Post, was born in Crieff, Ontario. Returning in 1916, he found the local Knox Presbyterian Churchyard in disrepair and led its restoration. The church later gave him the old manse and land, where he developed Crieff Hills Farm into a renowned estate with diverse agricultural activities.
Upon his death in 1950, Maclean bequeathed 250 acres to the Presbyterian Church in Canada, which developed the land into a retreat facility by the mid-1970s. Today, Crieff Hills operates year-round, offering a serene environment for spiritual renewal to individuals and groups of all faiths, under the governance of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and its appointed Maclean Estate Committee. Volunteers with various expertise are welcome to contribute to its operations.
Personal Retreats
A peaceful retreat at the historic Dove House, designed to help you unwind, clear your mind, or simply rest. Enjoy a day of reading, exploring wooded trails, walking through gardens, or napping. A locally inspired lunch is included, and each guest will have their own bedroom with access to common areas. A host will be present to assist and offer suggestions. Special diets can be accommodated with prior notice.
Quiet Day Retreat
Beautiful accommodations are available for individuals or couples. Guests in these quiet houses may use the fully equipped kitchen to prepare their own food, or order meals from the Crieff Hills kitchen. All linens are provided. Check in at 2pm and check out at 11am. You are welcome to stay on the property all day and the office can make arrangements to store your luggage if necessary.
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction is a process of accompanying people on their spiritual journey, listening for what gives them meaning, and helping them grow closer to God/the Divine/the sacred. You may wish to meet once, or several times, during your stay at Crieff Hills, as a way to deepen your retreat experience. Sessions are typically one hour long. All of the spiritual directors listed below have been trained through rigorous spiritual direction certification programs.
Rivendell, Bowen Island, British Columbia
Four of Rivendell's sacred spaces are located on Bowen Island near Vancouver and one space is located in the heart of Vancouver's downtown eastside. Rivendell is a non-profit society, hosted by a volunteer Christian community, rooted in the gospel values of Jesus and the practiced traditions of prayer, silence, simplicity and hospitality. Rivendell offers a welcome to small groups and individuals on any spritiual path who are seeking spiritual renewal, respite and growth, and is accessible to people with limited resources and special needs.
We practice hospitality, welcoming the stranger and providing openness and acceptance to all who come to one of the sacred spaces. It is our prayer that all who enter through our doors, return safely home to the places and people among whom they live - renewed, refreshed and enveloped in God’s grace.
Senten Spirituality Centre, Terence Bay, Nova Scotia
Seton Spirituality Centre is located in Terence Bay in a remodelled 12-bedroom country house originally built in 1938.The Centre has an ocean frontage, flower gardens and is within 5 minutes of walking trails along the ocean shores.
The mission of the Seton Spirituality Centre is to enable persons of any faith to discover the creative action of God in their lives. The Centre provides an atmosphere of quiet and hospitality conducive to prayer.
Rooted in Gospel values and characterized by holistic spirituality, the Centre fosters the integration of faith and justice.
Responding to the particular needs of our society, Seton Spirituality Centre is rooted in the mission and values of the Sisters of Charity, showing forth the love of God. Through our programs, we strive to enable others to develop a sensitivity toward those whom the world oppresses, to right in great ways or small the injustices we see around us, to heal the wounds of the embittered, to speak peace to the troubled, to urge the mighty to right wrongs, that all may bring the compassion of Christ to our world. (Constitutions)
Centre staff are available to give parish retreat days, day or evening reflections, and group facilitation. Ongoing spiritual direction is also offered.
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